Ads pop up on Note 4

[Craig19]

I have full screen ads pop up.  Saying phone infected games etc.

Can't find wit anti virus. Any ideas appreciated. .

[smith6612]

If you don't recall when the ads began or what app was installed prior to this occurring, consider the following. Sometimes, applications may wait some time to begin displaying ads to you for the sake of ensuring as much ad revenue is obtained as possible.

To begin the hunting and removing process, go to the Play Store and download a copy of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. Here's a link to it: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - Android Apps on Google Play

Plug your phone in, and allow MalwareBytes to update itself, and then scan your phone. Please make sure the app is kept in focus, and the screen is kept on during scanning. Otherwise some phones may shut down the application in order to save battery/free RAM.

Once the scan is complete, allow MalwareBytes to uninstall anything it finds. If it cannot uninstall the problem, you should be able to by removing it via the Play Store, or the Application Manager under Settings in your phone. Reboot your phone after removal to make sure the application is no longer in memory.

If you continue to receive pop-ups, this is where we need to do some more manual checking. To begin these checks, follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings > Applications > Application Manager (It may just be Applications)
2. Gather a list of all of your downloaded apps. Note them down
3. Go to the list of Running Applications. Note these down.
4. From your list, go through the list of applications and cross off any application pre-installed by Verizon or your phone manufacturer. These apps can be identified by selecting on them in your Application Manager, and finding out if they have an "Uninstall" or a "Disable / Uninstall Updates" button. These apps should not be the problem.
5. Using the list of running applications, go through and open these up. At the bottom of every app in the App Manager, you'll see a list of permissions. Take note of any application with one of these two permissions: "Runs at Startup" "Draw over other apps." Also note whether or not the app is a game or a utility - most should never need these permissions unless the permission is required for the app to do it's job (eg: It's meant to assist you with using other apps or interacts with other apps).
6. Do the same for your Downloaded Apps list.
7. Go to the Play Store, and then determine if the apps holding the permissions you found above, are also free apps.
8. *EXTRA* Go to Settings > Data Usage, and locate the apps above in the Data Usage list. Click on each of them. Find out what the percentage of Background Data vs Foreground data is. If the app has a huge amount of background data, it is more likely to be the culprit.

Once you've done this, you've narrowed down some starting apps to uninstall. Uninstall these applications one at a time to determine the culprit. Reboot your phone each time, and then perform a few actions you know tend to trigger ads to appear. Once you've found the culprit and have removed it, ads should stop.

Common applications which lead to this problem are: MP3 Music Downloaders (these are commonly used for piracy - don't use them), Flashlight apps (most phones have a widget built-in for this), some free to play games (check the reviews for these), Music players, third party Social Media apps, and some free utilities.

Sorry for the read, but hopefully this helps. Google in Android Marshmallow is starting to crack down on the commonly abused permissions by these advertisements.